Home on the Remains
by halfmyheart
Summary: Max remembers a scene from her past and Manticore becomes something she never though it could be. Oneshot


I still don't own them...thinking of looking on ebay, I mean you can find anything on ebay...no maybe not...

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Aside from the lingering scent of smoke and the blackened floors, Manticore was just as Max remembered it. Somehow, even crippled and devoid of all life, except the occasional rat that had taken up residence in the old barracks, the place remained just as imposing as it had in her childhood years. She always swore that she would never return there, but as she found herself wandering through the charred remains she began to realize just how much she missed the place. Oh, not most of it. Not the tests and the training, or the soldiers and Lydecker. No, what she missed were the memories of her siblings and all the mischief they caused behind their CO's backs. Like the time that Zack brought that wounded bird into the barracks…

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Zack walked towards his bed in the X5 barracks. He kept his hand hidden in his pocket until the guards had closed and locked the door. He turned his back to the members of his unit and gently slipped his hand from the pocket of his BDU's.

"Hey Zack whatcha got there?"

"Nothing Maxie, go to bed."

"Zack…"

Zack bent low over his bed, trying desperately to shield the object from Max's view, but Max was persistent.

"Let me see Zack!"

"Shhh," he whispered furiously. "Ok, come here."

Max giggled excitedly before crawling onto the bed with him and peering into his cupped hands. Her mouth formed a silent 'O' before she turned her gaze to meet Zack's.

"Can I hold it?"

Zack pulled his hands away slightly and looked down at the small, helpless animal nestled comfortably in his palms. "I-I guess. Just be careful, it's hurt." Gently, he negotiated the frail little ball of feathers into Max's hands.

"It's so warm," she said, gazing at it. "What are you going to do with it?"

Zack shrugged, "I dunno."

"We can't keep it. What if the soldiers find it? They'd kill it."

"I know," he said slowly, looking around at the sleeping forms of the other X5's. "I have an idea."

He motioned for her to follow him as he moved cautiously from his bed to the window. Slowly, he climbed through the loose bars and up the ladder that ran up the side of the outside wall. Max watched him for a moment then, tucking the small bird securely in her jacket packet, began to climb after him. When she reached the top she looked around at the frozen lands around them. Covered in snow and bathed in moonlight, it almost seemed like a serene and peaceful place to live. The darkness didn't tell the story of the horrors that went on in and around the woods of Manticore. The darkness hid the bloodstained forest floor from the stars, and almost made Max feel like she was free.

"Here," said Zack, drawing her out of her thoughts. He handed her a small strip of cloth, big enough to wrap around her hand twice, but not big enough to completely dwarf the tiny bird. Carefully she removed the bird from her pocket and wrapped it in the cloth as Zack made a makeshift nest out of the rest of the fabric he had stolen from Ben's shrine to the blue lady.

"This will keep it warm," he said unnecessarily. "We'll have to check on it every night, and make sure we save some food for it…"

"Do birds eat our kind of food," asked Max.

Zack shrugged again, "guess we'll find out. Maxie, this is our little secret ok?"

Max nodded enthusiastically, "ok." She looked at the small animal and another thought crossed her mind.

"He needs a name. Names are important," she said thinking of her own name and what it meant to her in a world of numbers and rules.

"I agree…what about…John?"

"For a bird?"

"I've never named a bird before; I'm not sure what you call them."

Max smiled, "John it is then."

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Max stopped walking and looked out the blackened barrack window to the snow covered forest beyond. It had been a long time since that night, and she couldn't help but wonder what had become of John after the escape only days later. Sighing she crawled through the window and climbed the charred metal ladder until she had reached the top of the building. Pulling her coat closer about herself to keep out the frigid cold, she crossed to where Ben's shrine had once been. There was nothing left of it now except a hollowed metal box, but it still brought back memories. Some were good, and some were painful, too painful for max to want to remember.

She tried to push the flood of memories back but they came faster and faster, assaulting her and causing her to drop to her knees. She ran her hands over her face and stared at the object of her misery. Furiously, she stood and kicked it over.

"What the…"

Kneeling down once more she saw a small gray object nestled in the corner of box. Gently reaching in, she felt a pile of twigs and string, a nest. Looking closer she saw a single blue feather, a feather that was identical to John's.

She smiled in spite of herself. She knew there was no way that John was still alive, birds didn't live as long as humans, but the kindness that they had showed him that night must have made an impression on his tiny bird brain. Evidently he had made the shrine his home, and the birds that followed him had never left it.

Max couldn't help but see the irony of the situation. Manticore was the epitome of evil, but John had found it as a sanctuary. While Max was trying so desperately to get out, the bird was trying desperately to get in. She had always felt trapped and threatened, but John, the sweet little innocent bird, had felt comforted and free. And Manticore had become something that Max had never know it could be, it had become home.

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See that little button that says 'go'? You know you want to push it and tell me what you think... 


End file.
